Obama Meets With Olmert and Abbas

By JEFF ZELENY

Published: July 24, 2008

With a fanfare typically accorded to a visiting head of state, Senator Barack Obama dashed through a series of meetings with leaders on both sides of the Middle East conflict on Wednesday, saying it was in Israel's interest to find peace with the Palestinians. Yet he made clear that Israel should be able to defend itself.

Mr. Obama said that the capital of Israel should be Jerusalem, but added that the matter should be settled through a negotiation by the parties.

''That's an issue that has to be dealt with by the parties involved, the Palestinians and the Israelis, and it is not the job of the United States to dictate the form in which that will take,'' Mr. Obama said, ''but rather to support the efforts that are being made right now to resolve these very difficult issues that have a long history.''

Mr. Obama, who flew by helicopter to the southern Israeli city of Sderot, said the people of Israel should be able to defend themselves from Palestinian rocket attacks from nearby Gaza. Sderot has been hit by more than 2,000 rockets in the past four years, and is a symbolic destination for visiting politicians, including Senator John McCain, who toured it four months ago.

In Sderot, Mr. Obama held a news conference against a backdrop of spent rockets and munitions outside. ''The state of Israel faces determined enemies who seek its destruction,'' Mr. Obama said. ''But it also has a friend and ally in the United States that will always stand by the people of Israel.''

He issued a warning to Iran, saying that, ''A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.'' He said no options were ''off the table'' in dealing with a nuclear threat from Iran but that the country should be offered ''big carrots'' as well as ''big sticks.'' The Bush administration and others have said Iran's nuclear program is aimed at developing nuclear weapons, although Iran's leaders insist it is for peaceful purposes.

''I think there are opportunities for us to mobilize a much more serious regime of sanctions on Iran, but also to offer them the possibility of improved relations in the international community if they stand down on these nuclear weapons,'' he said.

Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, held a busy day of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, sharing breakfast with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak before traveling to the West Bank to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Mr. Obama, who shuttled between morning meetings at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, also visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. Wearing a white yarmulke, he rekindled a flame and paused for a few moments of quiet reflection as he laid a wreath on a tomb that contains ashes from Nazi extermination camps.

''At a time of great peril and promise, war and strife, we are blessed to have such a powerful reminder of man's potential for great evil, but also our capacity to rise from tragedy and remake our world,'' Mr. Obama said after visiting the memorial. ''Let our children come here, and know this history, so they can add their voices to proclaim ''never again.'' And may we remember those who perished, not only as victims but also as individuals who hoped and loved and dreamed like us, and who have become symbols of the human spirit.''

Mr. Obama later met with Mr. Abbas and the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad, for one hour -- 15 minutes longer than scheduled -- at the Mukata, the Palestinian president's compound in Ramallah.

Mr. Obama traveled there by car -- crossing two checkpoints -- before arriving. Mr. Obama and Mr. Abbas sat down, with a Palestinian flag between them and photographs of the late Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and of Mr. Abbas himself on the wall behind them. The two men spoke softly for a few moments, while cameras captured the image, before starting their closed-door discussion.

The brief ceremony at Yad Vashem was intended to convey symbolic images of Mr. Obama's commitment to Israel as he listens to leaders on both sides of the Middle East peace process.

''The most important idea for me to reaffirm is the historic and special relationship between the United States and Israel,'' Mr. Obama said as he arrived here on the latest leg of a weeklong trip to the Middle East and Europe. ''One that cannot be broken. One that I have affirmed throughout my career and one that I will intend to not only continue but actually strengthen in an Obama administration.''

As Mr. Obama headed to his private meetings, including one later with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, his aides were sensitive to any perceptions that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was getting ahead of himself. They stressed that he was here to listen, not legislate.

''The United States of America has one president at a time -- that president is George W. Bush,'' Susan Rice, a senior foreign policy adviser to the campaign, said Wednesday. ''Senator Obama will not be engaged in any way, shape or form policy-making.''

Aides to Mr. Obama did not provide an immediate account of his meetings, but Mr. Barak's office issued a statement saying that the two discussed ''all the relevant issues'' and the ''future challenges facing Israel and the region.''

The list of challenges includes Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as well as Israel's concern about Iran's nuclear program.

Mr. Obama received a warm reception from President Shimon Peres of Israel, who said his fondest wish was for a ''great president of the United States. That is the greatest promise for us and the rest of the world.''

As he strolled with Mr. Peres just before their meeting, Mr. Obama said: ''I'm here on this trip to reaffirm the special relationship between Israel and the United States, my abiding commitment to Israel's security and my hope that I can serve as an effective partner whether as U.S. senator or as president in bringing about a more lasting peace in the region.''

''You are a person who has forgotten more than I will ever know on these issues and so I look forward to a robust discussion, having an opportunity to get your insights and your wisdom,'' he told Mr. Peres.

Mr. Obama also met with the opposition leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, who told reporters that Israeli-Palestinian relations and Iran were the main points of his morning conversation. ''The senator and I agreed that the primacy of preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power is clear, and this should guide our mutual policies,'' Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement.

He added that Mr. Obama told him ''he would never seek in any way to compromise Israel's security, and that this would be sacrosanct in his approach to political negotiations.''

Mr. Obama's visit to Israel comes after three days in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, where he met American military commanders and soldiers. On Tuesday, he visited Jordan. The international trip, which is unusual in the middle of a presidential campaign, was drawing considerable attention at home and abroad.

At the King David Hotel, some supporters brought Obama campaign signs bearing the slogan ''Change you can believe in,'' translated into Hebrew. In the lobby, an ''Israel for Obama'' sign was hanging from a chair.

As they talked casually, Mr. Netanyahu asked the visiting senator how he was feeling, to which Mr. Obama replied, ''I could fall asleep standing up.''